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Star Trek (2009)
Star Trek is a 2009 American science fiction adventure film directed by J. J. Abrams, written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It is the 11th film of the Star Trek film franchise and is also a reboot that features the main characters of the original Star Trek Television series, portrayed by a new cast and the first in the reboot series. The film follows James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) and Spock (Zachary Quinto) aboard the USS Enterprise as they combat Nero (Eric Bana), a Romulanfrom their future who threatens the United Federation of Planets. The story takes place in an alternate reality34 because of time travel by both Nero and the original Spock (Leonard Nimoy). The alternate timeline was created in an attempt to free the film and the franchise from established continuityconstraints while simultaneously preserving original story elements. Development for Star Trek originated in 1968, when creator Gene Roddenberry announced plans to produce a prequel modeled after the television series. The concept resurfaced temporarily in the late 1980s, when it was postulated by Harve Bennett as a possible plotline for the movie that would become Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, but was rejected in lieu of other projects by Roddenberry. Following the critical and commercial failure of Star Trek: Nemesis and the cancellation of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise, franchise executive producer Rick Berman and screenwriter Erik Jendresen wrote an unproduced film, titled Star Trek: The Beginning, which would take place after Enterprise. After the separation between Viacom and CBS Corporation, former Paramount president Gail Berman convinced CBS to produce a feature film. Orci and Kurtzman, both fans of the Star Trek series, were approached to write the film and Abrams was approached to direct it. Kurtzman and Orci used inspiration from novels and graduate school dissertations as well as the series itself. Principal photography commenced on November 7, 2007 and ended on March 27, 2008. The film was shot in various locations around California and Utah. Abrams wanted to avoid using bluescreen and greenscreen, opting to use sets and locations instead. Heavy secrecy surrounded the film's production and was under the fake working title Corporate Headquarters. Industrial Light & Magic used digital ships for the film, as opposed to the previous films in the franchise. Production for the film concluded by the end of 2008. Star Trek was heavily promoted the months preceding its release; pre-release screenings for the film premiered in select cities around the world including Austin, Texas; Sydney, Australia; and Calgary, Alberta. It was released in the United States and Canada on May 8, 2009, to positive reviews. Critics praised the character development as well as the storyline in the film. Star Trek became a box office success, grossing over $385.7 million worldwide. It was nominated for several awards, including four Academy Awards at the 82nd Academy Awards, ultimately winning in the category for Best Makeup, making it the first Star Trek film to win an Academy Award. The DVD and Blu-ray for the film were released on November 17, 2009. Following the success of the film, its cast members signed on for two sequels, making Star Trek the first of a planned trilogy. A sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, was released on May 16, 2013 with Abrams returning as director and Orci and Kurtzman returning as screenwriters (with the addition of Star Trek producer Damon Lindelof as screenwriter). A second sequel, Star Trek Beyond, is scheduled to be released on July 22, 2016.5 Plot In the 23rd century, the Federation starship USS Kelvin is investigating a "lightning storm" in space. A Romulan ship, the Narada, emerges from the storm and attacks the Kelvin. Narada's first officer, Ayel, demands that the Kelvin's Captain Robau come aboard to negotiate a truce. Robau is questioned about the current stardate and an "Ambassador Spock", whom he does not recognize. Narada's commander, Nero, kills him, and resumes attacking the Kelvin. George Kirk, the Kelvin's first officer, orders the ship's personnel, including his pregnant wife Winona, to abandon ship while he pilots the Kelvin on a collision course with the Narada, as the auto-pilot function is damaged. Kirk sacrifices his life to ensure Winona's survival as she gives birth to James T. Kirk. Seventeen years later, on the planet Vulcan, a young Spock is accepted to join the Vulcan Science Academy. Realizing the Academy views his human mother Amanda as a "disadvantage", he joins Starfleet instead. On Earth, Kirk becomes a reckless but intelligent young adult. In 2255, after a bar fight with Starfleet cadets accompanying Nyota Uhura, Kirk meets Captain Christopher Pike, who encourages him to enlist in Starfleet Academy, where Kirk meets and befriends doctor Leonard McCoy. Three years later, Commander Spock accuses Kirk of cheating during the Kobayashi Maru simulation. Kirk argues that cheating was acceptable because the simulation was designed to be unbeatable. The disciplinary hearing is interrupted by a distress signal from Vulcan. With the primary fleet out of range, the cadets are mobilized. McCoy and Kirk board Pike's ship, the Enterprise. Realizing that the "lightning storm" observed near Vulcan is similar to the one that occurred when he was born, Kirk breaks protocol to convince Pike that the distress signal is a trap. Enterprise finds the fleet destroyed and the Narada drilling into Vulcan's core. The Narada attacks the Enterprise and Pike surrenders, delegating command of the ship to Spock and promoting Kirk to first officer. Kirk, Hikaru Sulu and Chief EngineerOlson perform a space jump67 onto the drilling platform. Olson is killed but Kirk and Sulu disable the drill. Despite their efforts, Nero launches "red matter" into Vulcan's core, forming an artificial black hole that destroys Vulcan. Spock rescues the high council and his father Sarek, but Amanda dies. As the Narada moves toward Earth, Nero tortures Pike to gain access to Earth's defense codes. Spock maroons Kirk on Delta Vega after Kirk attempts mutiny. Kirk encounters an older Spock, who explains that he and Nero are from 129 years in the future. In that future, Romulus was threatened by a supernova. Spock's attempt to use "red matter" to create an artificial black hole and consume the supernova failed, and Nero's family perished along with Romulus. Narada and Spock's vessel were caught in the black hole, sending them back in time. Nero stranded Spock on Delta Vega to watch Vulcan's destruction. Reaching a Starfleet outpost, Kirk and the elder Spock meet Montgomery Scott. With the elder Spock's help, Kirk and Scott beam onto the Enterprise. Following the elder Spock's advice, Kirk provokes younger Spock into attacking him, forcing Spock to recognize he is emotionally compromised and relinquish command to Kirk. After talking with Sarek, Spock decides to help Kirk. While the Enterprise hides itself within the gas clouds of Titan, Kirk and Spock beam aboard the Narada. Kirk fights with Nero and Ayel, killing the latter and rescuing Pike while Spock uses the elder Spock's ship to destroy the drill. Spock leads the Narada away from Earth and sets his ship to collide with Nero's ship. Enterprise beams Kirk, Pike and Spock aboard. The older Spock's ship and the Narada collide, igniting the "red matter". Kirk offers Nero help to escape, but Nero refuses, prompting Kirk to give the order to fire, dooming Nero and the Narada to be consumed in a black hole. Kirk is promoted to Captain and given command of the Enterprise while Pike is promoted to Rear Admiral. Spock encounters his older self, who persuades his younger self to continue serving in Starfleet, encouraging him to do what feels right instead of what is logical. Spock remains in Starfleet, becoming first officer under Kirk's command. The Enterprise goes to warp as the elder Spock speaks the "where no one has gone before" monologue in voice-over. Cast * Chris Pine as James T. Kirk : Pine described his first audition as "awful", because he could not take himself seriously as a leader.8 Abrams did not see Pine's first audition, and it was only after Pine's agent met Abrams' wife that the director decided to give him another audition opposite Quinto. Quinto was supportive of Pine's casting because they knew each other as they worked out at the same gym.9 After getting the part, Pine sent William Shatner a letter and received a reply containing Shatner's approval. Pine watched classic episodes and read encyclopedias about the Star Trek universe, but stopped as he felt weighed down by the feeling he had to copy Shatner. Pine felt he had to show Kirk's "humor, arrogance and decisiveness," but not Shatner's speech pattern, which would have bordered on imitation.9 Pine said when watching the original series, he was also struck by how Shatner's performance was characterized by humor.10 Instead, Pine chose to incorporate elements of Tom Cruise from Top Gun and Harrison Ford's portrayals of Indiana Jones and Han Solo.11 Chris Prattauditioned for the role.12 :* Jimmy Bennett portrays a younger Kirk. * Zachary Quinto as Spock : The younger alternate timeline Spock. Quinto expressed interest in the role because of the duality of Spock's half-human, half-Vulcan heritage,8 and how "he is constantly exploring that notion of how to evolve in a responsible way and how to evolve in a respectful way. I think those are all things that we as a society, and certainly the world, could implement."13He mentioned he heard about the new film and revealed his interest in the role in a December 2006 interview with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: the article was widely circulated and he attracted Abrams' interest.14 For the audition, Quinto wore a blue shirt and flattened his hair down to feel more like Spock.9 He bound his fingers to practice the Vulcan salute, shaved his eyebrows and grew and dyed his hair for the role.8 He conveyed many of Spock's attributes, such as his stillness and the way Nimoy would hold his hands behind his back.9 Quinto commented the physical transformation aided in portraying an alien,8 joking "I just felt like a nerd. I felt like I was 12 again. You look back at those pictures and you see the bowl cut. There's no question I was born to play the Spock role. I was sporting that look for a good four or five years. The film officially establishes (to Kirk's surprise) that Uhura and Spock are lovers and have been romantically linked for some time, a point which had never been previously explored on TV or in film."9 Adrien Brody had discussed playing the role with the director before Quinto was cast.15 :* Jacob Kogan portrays a younger Spock. * Eric Bana as Captain Nero : The film's time-traveling Romulan villain. Bana shot his scenes toward the end of filming. He wasn't "a huge Trekkie when he was a kid",16 and he had not seen the films.17 Even though he was "crazy about the original series," he would not have accepted the role unless he liked the script, which he deemed "awesome" once he read it.18 Bana knew Abrams because they coincidentally shared the same agent.19 Bana improvised the character's speech patterns.20 * Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime: Nimoy reprises the role of the older Spock from the original Star Trek timeline, credited as "Spock Prime". He is a longtime friend of Abrams' parents,21 but became better acquainted with Abrams during filming. Although Quinto watched some episodes of the show during breaks in filming, Nimoy was his main resource in playing Spock.10 Abrams and the writers met Nimoy at his house; writer Roberto Orci recalled the actor gave a "'Who are you guys and what are you up to?' vibe" before being told how important he was to them. He was silent, and Nimoy's wife Susan Baytold the creative team he had remained in his chair after their conversation, emotionally overwhelmed by his decision after turning down many opportunities to revisit the role.22 Had Nimoy disliked the script, production would have been delayed for it to be rewritten.23 Nimoy later said, "This is the first and only time I ever had a filmmaker say, 'We cannot make this film without you and we won't make it without you'".24 He was "genuinely excited" by the script's scope and its detailing of the characters' backstories,13 saying, "We have dealt with being half-human, half-Vulcan, but never with quite the overview that this script has of the entire history of the character, the growth of the character, the beginnings of the character and the arrival of the character into the Enterprise crew."25 Abrams said "it was surreal to direct him as Spock, because what the hell am I doing there? This guy has been doing it for forty years. It's like 'I think Spock would...'"26 * Zoe Saldana as Nyota Uhura : Abrams asked her to play the role because he had seen her previous work and liked it. Saldana had never seen the original series, though she had played a Trekkie in The Terminal (2004), but agreed to play the role after Abrams complimented her. "For an actor, that's all you need, that's all you want. To get the acknowledgment and respect from your peers," she said. She met with Nichelle Nichols, who explained to her how she had created Uhura's background and had named the character.27 Saldana's mother was a Star Trek fan and sent her voice mails during filming, giving advice on the part.28Sydney Tamiia Poitier also auditioned for the part.29 The film officially establishes the character's first name, which had never been previously uttered on TV or in film. It also establishes (in an officially discreet manner) that Uhura and Spock are, in fact, lovers and had been romantically linked for some time during the film. * Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy : Like Pine, Urban said of taking on the role that "it is a case of not doing some sort of facsimile or carbon copy, but really taking the very essence of what DeForest Kelley has done and honoring that and bringing something new to the table". Urban has been a fan of the show since he was seven years old and actively pursued the role after rediscovering the series on DVD with his son.30 Urban was cast at his first audition, which was two months after his initial meeting with Abrams. He said he was happy to play a role with lots of comedy, something he had not done since The Price of Milk, because he was tired of action-oriented roles. When asked why McCoy is so cantankerous, Urban joked the character might be a "little bipolar actually!"31 Orci and Kurtzman had collaborated with Urban on Xena: Warrior Princess, in which he played Cupid and Caesar.32 * Simon Pegg as Montgomery "Scotty" Scott : Abrams contacted Pegg by e-mail, offering him the part.33 To achieve Scotty's accent, Pegg was assisted by his wife Maureen, who is from Glasgow, although Pegg said that Scotty was from Linlithgow and that he therefore wanted his accent to sound more East Coast Scottish. As a result, the accent he used is a mixture of both, although it leans more towards the West sound.33 He was also aided by James Doohan's son, Chris, and Tommy Gormley, the film's Glaswegian first assistant director.34 Pegg described Scotty as a positive Scottish stereotype, noting "Scots are the first people to laugh at the fact that they drink and fight a bit", and that Scotty comes from a long line of Scots with technical expertise, such as John Logie Baird and Alexander Graham Bell. Years before, Pegg's character in Spaced joked that every odd-numbered Star Trek film being "shit" was a fact of life. Pegg noted "Fate put me in the movie to show me I was talking out of my ass."35 * John Cho as Hikaru Sulu : Abrams had at first been concerned about casting a Korean-American as a Japanese character, but George Takeireassured him that Sulu had been meant to represent all of Asia on the Enterprise, so Abrams went ahead with Cho.36Cho acknowledged that being an Asian-American, "there are certain acting roles that you are never going to get, and one of them is playing a cowboy. Sulu is a realization of that dream – going into space." He cited the masculinity of the character as being important to him, and spent two weeks fight training.37 Although Cho suffered an injury to his wrist during filming, a representative reassured the public that the injury was "no big deal".38 James Kyson Lee had originally been interested in playing the part of Sulu, but both he and Quinto, who had already been cast as Spock, were at the time members of the cast of the television series Heroes, and its producers told Lee they did not want to lose another cast member for three months.39 * Anton Yelchin as Pavel Chekov : As with the rest of the cast, Yelchin was allowed to choose what elements there were from their predecessor's performances. Yelchin decided to carry on Walter Koenig's speech patterns of replacing "v"s with "w"s, although he and Abrams felt this was a trait more common of Polish accents than Russian ones.40 He described Chekov as an odd character, being a Russian who was brought on to the show "in the middle of the Cold War." He recalled a "scene where they're talking to Apollo says, 'I am Apollo.' And Chekov is like, 'And I am the czar of all the Russias.' ... They gave him these lines. I mean he really is the weirdest, weirdest character."41 * Bruce Greenwood as Christopher Pike, the captain of the Enterprise.8 * Ben Cross as Sarek, Spock's father. * Winona Ryder as Amanda Grayson, Spock's mother. * Clifton Collins, Jr. as Ayel, Nero's first officer. Chris Hemsworth plays George Kirk, James Tiberius Kirk's father, who dies aboard the USS Kelvin while battling Nero, Mark Wahlberg was also approached for the role.42 Faran Tahir plays Kelvin captain Richard Robau. Winona Kirk, Kirk's mother, is played by Jennifer Morrison. Greg Ellis plays Chief Engineer Olson, the redshirt who is killed during the space jump.43 Additional minor roles include Rachel Nichols as Gaila, an Orion Starfleet cadet; Deep Roy as Scotty's assistant Keenser; and Paul McGillion as a Starfleet barracks leader.44 Chris Doohan, the son of the original Scotty, James Doohan, makes a cameo appearance in the transporter room as Lt. Kyle.45 Some characters had their scenes substantially or entirely cut from the film, including Brad William Henke as Kirk's stepfather (the character's lines in the film were spoken by Greg Grunberg).4446 Spencer Daniels originally played Kirk's older brother, George Samuel "Sam" Kirk, Jr., but the majority of his scenes were cut and the opening car chase scene where Kirk can be heard calling out to him was overdubbed.47 Victor Garber plays a Klingon interrogator who tortures Nero during his time on Rura Penthe. Tyler Perry appears as the head of Starfleet Academy, Admiral Richard Barnett. James Cawley, producer and star of the webseries Star Trek: New Voyages, appears as a Starfleet officer, while Pasha Lychnikoff and Lucia Rijker play Romulans, Lychnikoff a Commander and Rijker a Communications Officer. W. Morgan Sheppard, who played a Klingon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, as well as Data's allegorical grandfather in the TNG episode "The Schizoid Man", appears in this film as the head of the Vulcan Science Council. Wil Wheaton, known for portraying Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation, was brought in, through urging by Greg Grunberg, to voice several of the other Romulans in the film.48 Star Trek''fan and Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch cameoed as a ''Kelvin crew member, and has a line of dialogue.49 Majel Barrett, the widow of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, reprised her role as the voice of the Enterprise's computer, which she completed two weeks before her death on December 18, 2008.50 Orci and Kurtzman wrote a scene for Shatner, in which old Spock gives his younger self a recorded message by Kirk from the previous timeline. "It was basically a Happy Birthday wish knowing that Spock was going to go off to Romulus, and Kirk would probably be dead by the time," and it would have shifted into Shatner reciting "Where no man has gone before".51However, Shatner wanted to share Nimoy's major role, and did not want a cameo,52 despite his character's death in Star Trek Generations. He suggested the film canonize his novels where Kirk is resurrected, but Abrams decided if his character was accompanying Nimoy's, it would have become a film about the resurrection of Kirk, and not about introducing the new versions of the characters.53 Nimoy disliked the character's death in Generations, but also felt resurrecting Kirk would be detrimental to this film,23 and his friendship with Shatner caused them to avoid discussing the film.24